Mildred Bliss:

A pair of Spanish castanets. I remember these from the drawer-of-miscellany in a spare chest of drawers that sat on the upstairs landing in my grandmother's house. She would scoot a stool up and let me sit and explore the little treasures she had stashed in the top drawer. (this was actually a dangerous spot to be in, since leaning back a bit too far would have sent me falling headfirst over the banister) I really think this is where my love of tiny things originated, as I would spend hours totally absorbed in the bits and bobs that my magpie grandmother had accumulated. I was given a number of these tiny talismans at some point, and I still have horrible memories of the first garage sale I ever held, when a box of them that wasn't supposed to be in the sale was carted off by a jerk who bullied me into selling them despite my protests. *sob*

Ahem... moving on.

I found the castanets wrapped in newspaper from 1973 which is around the time my grandparents moved from Corpus to California. They were probably given to my mom around then. I have a sense that I've heard where they came from to begin with, but I can't recall it. I think somewhere there is a photo of either my mother or my aunt dressed in a Spanish costume, and I recently found a lace mantilla that probably was part of the ensemble. No clue what the occasion might have been.

I remember trying to learn how to play them. Totally unsuccessful. If you'd like to see some awesome castanet playing, check out this cool video on youtube.